2016 ARENA PRO SWIM SERIES AT AUSTIN

100 LCM Free

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom dominates the first event of the meet, touching the pads in the 100 free in 53.72 to seed her first going in to tonight’s final. Excluding Sjostrom, who was the only woman to break the 54 second barrier this morning, 54 was the time to go to make it back into the A final, making tonight’s final one to watch. Here are the other 7 swimmers joining Sjostrom in the final; Abby Weitzeil (54.11), Dana Vollmer (54.44), Katie Ledecky (54.45), Katinka Hosszu(54.58), Chantal vanLandeghem (54.86), Missy Franklin (54.90) and Amanda Weir (54.96).

It was a similar situation on the men’s side, France’s Jerem Stravius was the only male to break the 49 second barrier this morning and nothing above 49 seconds made a spot in the A final. Tonight’s final will consist of Stravius (48.90), Nathan Adrian (49.26), Ryan Lochte (49.55), Jimmy Feigen (49.61), Matt Grevers (49.91), Michael Phelps (49.94), Michael Chadwick (49.96) and San Condorelli (49.97).

Lochte and Phelps also came back for their 2nd event of the day, making it back for the A final in times of 52.58 and 52.99 respectively. Tonight’s final will be a race to watch with the top 8 all swimming between 52 high or 53 low this morning. The other 6 swimmers for the A final are; Giles Smith (52.63), Tom Shields (52.65), Tim Phillips (52.91), Matthew Josa (53.18), Simon Sjodin (53.20) and Zheng Wen Quah (53.23), who made the A final over Singapore national teammate Joseph Schooling. After scratching the 100 free, Jack Conger didn’t make it back to the A final, but is seeded 2nd in the B final (53.61), just behind Kyler VanSwol (53.50).

400 LCM Free

Ledecky and Hosszu swim impressive times for their 2nd event of the morning, clocking in in 4:01.45 and 4:06.58 respectively. Also coming back tonight is Leah Smith, who finished just ahead of Hosszu in 4:06.06 for a lane 5 spot, Lotte Friis (4:07.95), Stephanie Peacock (4:07.98), Becca Mann (4:08.17), Sarah Henry (4:11.37) and Cierra Runge (4:11.57).

5 of 8 swimmers with a 3:53 low in tonight’s final will make the men’s 400 free A final a race to watch. Michael McBroon will lead the way tonight in lane 4 with a prelims time of 3:51.34. Joining him is Jordan Pothain (3:51.49), Connor Jaeger (3:52.07), Jay Lelliott (3:53.10), Mads Glaesner (3:53.20), True Sweetser (3:53.21), Zane Grothe (3:53.30) and Ous Mellouli (3:53.40).

I think it’s pretty clear now that Ledecky wants to be in play for the 400 FR. She may not get there, but I think it’s very realistic now that she could throw down a :53 at Trials to get herself into contention. I certainly won’t count her out. Great swim for Vollmer too — the comeback continues.

About Lani Cabrera

My name is Lani Cabrera and I’m from a small island in the Caribbean called Barbados. I am a senior on the swim team at Florida Gulf Coast University and I also swim for the Barbados National Team. I am studying Public Relations here at FGCU and I have always had …